Sharing my journey through life.

Today I was reading Tim Ferriss’s interview with Neil Strauss in the book, Tools of Titans.

In it Neil mentioned a conversation he had with one of his billionaire friends who once said:

“The biggest mistake you can make is to accept the norms of your time.”

Let’s unpack that statement by looking at the “norms” regarding income. In some nations it’s “normal” to only make a few bucks a day. So that’s what most people settle for in those parts of the world.

But nobody in their right mind would take a job that only paid $5 a day here in the U.S.

Why? Because it’s not normal. It’s weird.

That’s because we define a “normal” annual income as being somewhere around$60,000 to $80,000.

So that’s what most people settle for because, again, it’s normal.

But what if $50,000 a month became your new normal?

Do you think that may cause you to think differently about your current “weird” income situation and how you change it so it’s “normal?”

Just food for thought.

You can apply this thought exercise to so many different areas of life. Here’s just a few more examples you can play around with:

1) Mortgages: it’s normal to be in massive debt to own a home. But what if a “mortgage was weird” and owning your home free and clear was “normal?”

2) Commuting: it’s normal to commute to a job. But what if it wasn’t?

3) Retirement: it’s normal to save the best part of your life for the end. To take the long RV trips and vacations until you’re “retired.” But what if that was absurd to you? What type of life would you construct for yourself now?

I think you get the point.

Remember, it’s up to you to define what normal is for you. You don’t have to accept the norms of your day. If you do, that’s your choice.